


Disaster Relief

by extasiswings



Series: In This White House [3]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The West Wing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Politics, Developing Relationship, Established Relationship, Everyone Needs A Hug, Male-Female Friendship, Trauma Recovery, West Wing AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-09
Updated: 2017-02-09
Packaged: 2018-09-23 03:52:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9639629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/extasiswings/pseuds/extasiswings
Summary: “Do you think—” She pushes the corner of the top folder into her finger until it stings just enough to center her. “Do you think there might be a psychological aftermath that we’re ignoring?”Natasha’s face is thoughtful when Darcy looks back up at her. “Yes,” she finally replies. “Is that it?”I’m worried about my friends, Darcy thinks, but the words stick in the back of her throat.Or: Everyone experiences trauma differently and recovery can take a long time. [Snapshots from the aftermath ofIn This White House]





	

**Author's Note:**

> I have a thousand other WiPs, including _Enemies_ , but I was doing a TWW rewatch and had a lot of feelings, so here you go. For those who are interested, I am definitely still working on the next chapter of _Enemies_ , Steve and Maria are just being particularly difficult.

_January, 2015_

“If there’s nothing else, we’ll meet again this afternoon so you can brief the President,” Natasha says. “Thanks, everyone.”

Matt, Foggy, and Bucky trail out of the office, quiet chatter following them out. Darcy though—Darcy pauses at the door and turns back.

“Hey, Nat?”

“Yes, Darcy?”

She glances down at the folders in her hands for a moment as if they might hold the answers she’s looking for. 

“I’m still getting a lot of calls about how staffers are handling the shooting in the aftermath,” she admits.

Natasha presses her lips together and sighs. “Psychologically?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t comment.”

Darcy nods. “No, I know that,” she says, but the sick feeling in her stomach from the past few days doesn’t go away. “But I was wondering—”

“Wondering what?” Natasha prompts when Darcy cuts off in the middle of her sentence. 

“Do you think—” She pushes the corner of the top folder into her finger until it stings just enough to center her. “Do you think there might be a psychological aftermath that we’re ignoring?”

Natasha’s face is thoughtful when Darcy looks back up at her. “Yes,” she finally replies. 

It’s not what Darcy was expecting her to say—or maybe it is, but she at least wasn’t expecting Natasha to be quite so open with her answer. She must take too long to come up with a response because the other woman turns back to the papers on her desk. 

“Is that it?”

_I’m worried about my friends_ , Darcy thinks, but the words stick in the back of her throat.

“Um, yeah,” she says instead. “Yeah, that’s it.”

“Okay then. If you keep getting calls, thank them for their interest and remind them we’re not the story here.”

“Right. Thanks, Nat.” 

Darcy escapes before either of them can say anything else. In the hallway, she stops and leans against the wall to breathe for just a moment— _in and out, in and out_ —until she feels calm enough to head back to her office.

When she passes the bullpen, Karen flashes her a smile, but both Matt and Foggy’s doors are closed. 

Natasha’s words stick with her the rest of the day. 

 

_Late November, 2014_

“We have over 80 percent approval!” Foggy shouts across the table. “If we’re not going to do anything with those numbers, then what’s even the point?” 

Darcy pinches the bridge of her nose and glances over at Bucky whose own face is impassive. So, no help there then.

“Foggy, you know as well as I do that if we try to push legislation through on guns and hate crimes right now, we’re going to look opportunistic,” she explains for what feels like the hundredth time. 

“And I’m saying that I don’t give a damn what it looks like if we’re able to make something good happen for once!”

“If we do this, we’re going to be crucified in the press,” Darcy shoots back, her own voice rising. “And since it’s my job to deal with that I’m saying we need to think about this more carefully.”

“If Matt was here right now, he would agree with me,” he snaps.

It’s as if all the air leaves the room at once. There’s a dull ringing in her ears, the echo of screams in the back of her mind, and her stomach drops. Foggy at least has the decency to look apologetic. 

“That’s enough,” Steve interrupts, raising his hand. “I’ve heard enough for now. Let’s move on.”

“Sir,” Foggy backtracks, his voice returning to a more normal level, “I just think we shouldn’t waste this opportunity.”

“Yeah, I’ve got that. I’ll take it into consideration,” he replies. “In the meantime, I’m saying I’d like to talk about something else for awhile.”

“Yes, sir.”

In the silence that follows, Bucky glances from Foggy to Darcy and back before speaking up. “I think that’s all we have for now.”

“Great.” Steve pushes back his chair and everyone stands. “What’s next?”

Darcy refuses to meet Foggy’s eyes as she gathers her things, but once they’re the only ones left in the room he reaches out to catch her sleeve.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No you shouldn’t have,” she agrees. 

“I should have thought—”

“Yes, you should have.”

“You know, you could stop agreeing with me at any time,” Foggy points out, although the twist to his lips is self-deprecating enough that he clearly knows he deserves whatever she throws at him. Darcy doesn’t smile.

“Why would I do that when this is the first time in at least an hour that you’re talking any kind of sense?” It’s snarkier than she intends, but whatever, she’s still stung. 

When he doesn’t respond right away, Darcy starts walking back to her office only to have him catch up to her a moment later.

“That’s not fair,” Foggy says. “Gun regulations—”

_Oh for—_ Darcy holds up a hand to silence him before he can get started again. “I am done having the same argument with you over and over again,” she replies. “Gun regulations are very important and we will push for a legislative strategy to get more of them. Just not right now. Not like this. Okay?”

When she looks over, warring emotions are written all over his face. Stubbornness, anger, fear, resignation—Darcy puts a hand on Foggy’s shoulder and the fight goes out of him. 

“They shot Matt,” he whispers. “They shot him. And the President. With guns they bought legally because up until they fired at us they hadn’t committed a crime. How is that okay?”

Her heart hurts. As pissed as she’d been at him a few minutes ago, she can’t hold onto that anger when he’s saying the same thing she’s been thinking for weeks, the same thing that’s made her want to scream before every press briefing because she can’t just come out and be candid about how she feels. 

“It’s not,” Darcy acknowledges, moving closer so they aren’t blocking the hallway. “It’s not okay or right or fair. Any way you frame it isn’t okay. But unfortunately, you can’t lock up every racist homophobe with a gun until they actually do something.”

“Why not?” 

Darcy laughs wetly. _When did she start crying?_

“Well, for one thing I’m pretty sure that describes most of the Republican Party. Also I think the Constitution might get in the way.”

“I’m still not seeing the problem here.” There’s only the faintest hint of a smile on Foggy’s lips, but it’s enough that Darcy considers it a success. Looping her arm through his, she starts off down the hall again.

“Come on, friend. Let’s get out of this crusty old building and go harass Matt for a bit. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled.”

“Can I talk about work?”

“Absolutely not.” 

_We'll be okay_ , she thinks. She almost believes it.


End file.
